Bulking and Cutting Progress

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Replies

  • fanncy0626
    fanncy0626 Posts: 7,152 Member
    Hello everyone! I am new to this thread. I am currently doing Stronglift 5x5 and swinging heavy kettle bells. I am at approximately 19% body fat or less. I have 5 pounds of fat to remove until I reach my first body composition goal which is removing as much body fat as possible before I start training to build muscle. I have been lifting for two years now mainly to maintain strength and muscle during a deficit. I guess a really long cut! I'm hoping that there are people on here that are experience with what to do next! My lifting numbers are not impressive due to the fact I have been lifting at a deficit I really don't have the extra energy to increase lift amounts. I'm eating a Keto diet which has really helped with fat removal. Now it's time for me to prepare to build muscle and I have no idea what to do! Any advice would be appreciated.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    I thought I would bump this thread since some of us are near the end of our cuts ... anyone have progress to share?
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    Wowwww @Keladelphia your progress is amazing! #Bodygoals!! Keep up the great work and thanks for sharing. Good luck at your meet in October!! :)
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    kiahz_ wrote: »
    Any tips for adding mass to glutes? Working them and eating right isn't working for me

    Squats and barbell hip thrusts.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    sardelsa wrote: »
    Well this bulk has come and gone. I gained 12 lbs total (125-137lbs). Feeling a little bit bigger.. but still good!

    Just for fun I put my second post-bulk photo to compare to my pre-bulk and first post-bulk.. interesting! I am a lot larger but I am sure it will come down when I cut! :)

    gbzjhj9dcfcl.jpg

    Great job! Shows what patience and dedication can do. You look fabulous!! :)
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    mmapags wrote: »
    sardelsa wrote: »
    Well this bulk has come and gone. I gained 12 lbs total (125-137lbs). Feeling a little bit bigger.. but still good!

    Just for fun I put my second post-bulk photo to compare to my pre-bulk and first post-bulk.. interesting! I am a lot larger but I am sure it will come down when I cut! :)

    gbzjhj9dcfcl.jpg

    Great job! Shows what patience and dedication can do. You look fabulous!! :)

    Thank you so much! Oh wow just looking at that photo from April I am so much leaner now, I will have to post progress photos when I am done with this cut in a few weeks
  • Keladelphia
    Keladelphia Posts: 820 Member
    sardelsa wrote: »
    Wowwww @Keladelphia your progress is amazing! #Bodygoals!! Keep up the great work and thanks for sharing. Good luck at your meet in October!! :)

    Thank you so much :)
  • Gallowmere1984
    Gallowmere1984 Posts: 6,626 Member
    mmapags wrote: »
    kiahz_ wrote: »
    Any tips for adding mass to glutes? Working them and eating right isn't working for me

    Squats and barbell hip thrusts.

    After my recent experiences, I'd add conventional deadlifts pulled from a 4" deficit to this as well. Jesus, my poor *kitten* has never had to work so hard. 5x5 at 70% of my floor TM, and my upper glutes are screaming in ways that I didn't know were possible for me.
  • CarlsbergLewis
    CarlsbergLewis Posts: 186 Member
    Last year I started my first ever bulk.
    Started At 185lbs (July 2016)
    Post bulk - 235lbs (June 2017)
    Currently cutting and down to 207lbs.

    I'd certainly do things differently next time and slow bulk rather than eat everything in sight.
  • Gallowmere1984
    Gallowmere1984 Posts: 6,626 Member
    CarlsbergLewis wrote: »
    Last year I started my first ever bulk.
    Started At 185lbs (July 2016)
    Post bulk - 235lbs (June 2017)
    Currently cutting and down to 207lbs.

    I'd certainly do things differently next time and slow bulk rather than eat everything in sight.

    Good choice. I think that all of us have to go through that one silly *kitten* fulk though.
  • wannaobela
    wannaobela Posts: 1 Member
    @sardelsa you look great in all the pictures! Just wondering, how many calories were you eating pre-bulk and now during bulking? I'm similar in weight and height and would also love to improve my *kitten* haha im now eating just below 2k but not sure if that enough. Thanks so much!
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    Thank you @wannaobela ! My bulking numbers are a bit inflated because I was nursing, with my first bulk I got up to around 3200 cals per day, gaining 2lbs per month (or 0.5lb per week). With my second I got up to 3500 but I was gaining much slower, 1-1.5lb per month. I maintain around 2500-2800. So ultimately you want to track and monitor your weight, if you aren't gaining, you aren't eating enough. Keep in mind when you first add cals the scale has a tendency to jump up.. I use a trend app to weed through the crazy fluctuations.
  • klrenn
    klrenn Posts: 245 Member
    @sardelsa wow...I maintain on about 1800...you're 3" taller than me, so that's probably some of it, but I'm curious, did you find that your maintenance calories went up after your bulks?

    You have me wanting to run another bulk, but I have to be realistic since I'm probably not even going to finish this cut (I'll go into recomp instead) never mind go through another cut later...
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    Oh yea definitely.. it's not so much muscle as I can maintain the same physique at a higher weight which gives me more cals. Also I am pretty active generally, and I find the more I eat, the more I move.

    Yea it's tough. I am still finishing up this cut from May and I am getting drained :s . But I want to run a small bulk again in October, really slow just to kind of add a little extra to the mould. Haha.
  • Keladelphia
    Keladelphia Posts: 820 Member
    sardelsa wrote: »
    Well I am not finished yet, but took some progress photos in the gym today:
    Currently sitting at 130lbs (I am 5'7")


    wfzt8529dp9y.jpg

    I would love to be more like 135-140lbs with around the same bodyfat % so that will be my goal in the future. Can't wait to bulk again! This bod needs more gainz ;)

    You look amazing! Your results are super impressive and I LOVE those tights :) Just out of curiosity what are you trying to cut to if you're not finished yet?

  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    Keladelphia wrote: »
    sardelsa wrote: »
    Well I am not finished yet, but took some progress photos in the gym today:
    Currently sitting at 130lbs (I am 5'7")


    wfzt8529dp9y.jpg

    I would love to be more like 135-140lbs with around the same bodyfat % so that will be my goal in the future. Can't wait to bulk again! This bod needs more gainz ;)

    You look amazing! Your results are super impressive and I LOVE those tights :) Just out of curiosity what are you trying to cut to if you're not finished yet?

    Thank you!!

    I am very happy don't get me wrong (this is a happy bf% for me), just want to cut a little lower before I bulk..I am not ultra lean or anything, I also have a bit of stubborn fat (not shown) that I want to try to chip away at. Obviously I will bulk in October no matter what, just to see exactly what I am working with and what areas need work. :)
  • Keladelphia
    Keladelphia Posts: 820 Member
    sardelsa wrote: »
    Keladelphia wrote: »
    sardelsa wrote: »
    Well I am not finished yet, but took some progress photos in the gym today:
    Currently sitting at 130lbs (I am 5'7")


    wfzt8529dp9y.jpg

    I would love to be more like 135-140lbs with around the same bodyfat % so that will be my goal in the future. Can't wait to bulk again! This bod needs more gainz ;)

    You look amazing! Your results are super impressive and I LOVE those tights :) Just out of curiosity what are you trying to cut to if you're not finished yet?

    Thank you!!

    I am very happy don't get me wrong (this is a happy bf% for me), just want to cut a little lower before I bulk..I am not ultra lean or anything, I also have a bit of stubborn fat (not shown) that I want to try to chip away at. Obviously I will bulk in October no matter what, just to see exactly what I am working with and what areas need work. :)

    I like to be pretty lean myself before bulking so I totally get it. I was just curious how much more you would want to cut before your "ideal" starting point of another bulk. Sometimes I wonder if I feel the need to get too lean if that makes sense.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    Keladelphia wrote: »
    sardelsa wrote: »
    Keladelphia wrote: »
    sardelsa wrote: »
    Well I am not finished yet, but took some progress photos in the gym today:
    Currently sitting at 130lbs (I am 5'7")


    wfzt8529dp9y.jpg

    I would love to be more like 135-140lbs with around the same bodyfat % so that will be my goal in the future. Can't wait to bulk again! This bod needs more gainz ;)

    You look amazing! Your results are super impressive and I LOVE those tights :) Just out of curiosity what are you trying to cut to if you're not finished yet?

    Thank you!!

    I am very happy don't get me wrong (this is a happy bf% for me), just want to cut a little lower before I bulk..I am not ultra lean or anything, I also have a bit of stubborn fat (not shown) that I want to try to chip away at. Obviously I will bulk in October no matter what, just to see exactly what I am working with and what areas need work. :)

    I like to be pretty lean myself before bulking so I totally get it. I was just curious how much more you would want to cut before your "ideal" starting point of another bulk. Sometimes I wonder if I feel the need to get too lean if that makes sense.

    It's interesting, I don't track my bf% so usually I just know.. I will feel too small and scrawny, glutes look flat... then I know it's time to get bulking! But this time is different.. I finally have a decent muscle base where I don't feel/look like that. I probably don't need to go that lean (if I was in a time crunch it might be considered a waste of potential bulking time), but it makes adding weight that much easier for me to start off super lean and I am more successful in the end.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    Amazing progress @Mr_Healthy_Habits keep up the great work! :)
  • kristinann308
    kristinann308 Posts: 53 Member
    How does one even start this cycle of cutting and bulking? I lift regularly (decently heavy) with cardio peppered in just because it's ingrained in me. I cannot lose weight very easily, but do see muscle tone and enjoy lifting and the changes its made externally. Would love to see more muscle tone with less body fat, but then I feel like I would also lose more muscle and be VERY low on calories. I am currently 5'-1" and around 138.
  • vannymac
    vannymac Posts: 2 Member
    edited August 2017
    Well done to everyone doing anything positive to change themselves :)
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    kristinann308 wrote: »
    How does one even start this cycle of cutting and bulking? I lift regularly (decently heavy) with cardio peppered in just because it's ingrained in me. I cannot lose weight very easily, but do see muscle tone and enjoy lifting and the changes its made externally. Would love to see more muscle tone with less body fat, but then I feel like I would also lose more muscle and be VERY low on calories. I am currently 5'-1" and around 138.

    Most people that I know will lose weight while lifting and get down to a lean goal weight and are not satisfied with how much muscle they have, so they decide to eat in a surplus and gain. Usually it will take more than one bulk/cut cycle, depending on their goals and results.

    As for me, I got down to a really low weight, I just kept leaning down until I had very little of anything! While that wasn't the best thing to do, it pretty much forced me to gain weight and bulk.. and now I am about to start my third bulk cycle, so it all worked out for me. Progress is slow, I have been doing this for 3 years (with a baby in between) and I am finally starting to see a foundation. It is like throwing globs of clay at a figurine then carving away at it.. very very slowly. :p
  • Keladelphia
    Keladelphia Posts: 820 Member
    kristinann308 wrote: »
    How does one even start this cycle of cutting and bulking? I lift regularly (decently heavy) with cardio peppered in just because it's ingrained in me. I cannot lose weight very easily, but do see muscle tone and enjoy lifting and the changes its made externally. Would love to see more muscle tone with less body fat, but then I feel like I would also lose more muscle and be VERY low on calories. I am currently 5'-1" and around 138.

    Many people will suggest you get to a certain body fat percentage but i've never known mine I just decided to bulk when I REALLY felt I was too skinny. The first year I just allowed myself to increase my calories over winter until I slowly gained about ten pounds (still lifting and training the same way the whole time). Then I went back into a small deficit to lose about 1/2 a pound a week (though the first two weeks more came off as it wasn't really ten pounds of fat/muscle gain) until I got down to the same weight as I was previously. I certainly don't know if this is the best way, many people seem like they're more technical but I've just repeated this for the last three years and have been extremely pleased with the results.
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